Andy Whalen

Creates a log file for network/multisite super admin actions.
The following actions are logged for Super Admin users. WordPress action names are listed in parenthesis:
<ul>
<li>change network settings (update_site_option)</li>
<li>grant super admin privileges (granted_super_admin)</li>
<li>revoke super admin privileges (revoked_super_admin)</li>
<li>upgrade blog (wpmu_upgrade_site)</li>
<li>add blog (wpmu_new_blog)</li>
<li>set blog archived (archive_blog/unarchive_blog)</li>
<li>set blog deleted (make_delete_blog/make_undelete_blog)</li>
<li>set blog mature (mature_blog/unmature_blog)</li>
<li>set blog spam (make_spam_blog/make_ham_blog)</li>
<li>delete blog (delete_blog)</li>
<li>delete user (wpmu_delete_user)</li>
<li>delete user (deleted_user)</li>
<li>change other user’s settings (edit_user_profile_update) [NOTE: doesn’t show diff]</li>
<li>change blog setting (updated_option) [NOTE: may occasionally log annoyingly large diffs]</li>
</ul>
The following actions are logged for ANY user:
<ul>
<li>login (wp_login)</li>
<li>logout (wp_logout)</li>
<li>new user (user_register)</li>
</ul>
Some actions that change data will show what the value was before and after.
Below is an example of a log entry when the user ‘smith’ has changed the Network site name from “WP Local Network” to “WP Local Networks”:
<pre><code>[Tue, 03 Sep 2013 13:45:49 +0000] [smith:1] [update_site_option] [1] [site_name] [(WP Local Network)->(WP Local Networks)] [127.0.0.1] </code></pre>
Each line in the log file will roughly follow the below example. Individual actions may log slightly different information, but the DATETIME, USERNAME, USER_ID, ACTION, and IP_ADDRESS sections should always be populated.
<pre><code>[DATETIME] [USERNAME:USER_ID] [ACTION] [AFFECTED_OBJECT_ID] [DATA_TITLE_OR_KEY] [(VALUE_BEFORE)->(VALUE_AFTER)] [IP_ADDRESS] </code></pre>

Observer

Creates a log file for network/multisite super admin actions.

edward_plainview

Activity Monitor tracks all user activity on your blog or network. The activities can be viewed in global table showing activities on the whole network, or locally for just the blog you are currently viewing. The activites can be filtered so that only specific blogs / hooks / IPs / users are displayed.
Monitored actions include (not exhaustive):
<ul>
<li>Comments: approve, held, spam, delete</li>
<li>Custom Post Types: draft, publish, update, trash, delete</li>
<li>Logins: login, login failed, logout</li>
<li>Pageviews: admin, front-end</li>
<li>Passwords: reset, retrieve</li>
<li>Plugins: activate, deactivate</li>
<li>Pages: draft, publish, update, trash, delete</li>
<li>Posts: draft, publish, update, trash, delete, password</li>
<li>Taxonomies: create, edit, delete</li>
<li>Themes: switched</li>
<li>Updates: WordPress core, plugins, themes</li>
<li>Users: register, delete, profile changes</li>
<li>And more….</li>
</ul>
The logged information consists of:
<ul>
<li>A description of what was logged</li>
<li>Blog</li>
<li>Timestamp</li>
<li>Hook that was triggered</li>
<li>User ID</li>
</ul>
<h4>git</h4>
The <a href="https://bitbucket.org/edward_electric/activity-monitor" rel="nofollow ugc">Activity Monitor has a git repository</a>.
<h4>Security tips</h4>
There are several ways for people to break in to your WordPress installation, or cause trouble by DDOS. Here are some tips on how to use the Activity Monitor and its plugins to help detect problems:
<ul>
<li>Get a DDOS protection service with an API. There is a plugin to ban IPs via CloudFlare (Send To CloudFlare). Other APIs could be supported as the need arises.</li>
<li>If you have another DDOS service, write a script that can ban visitors by IP. Use this script with the Send To Exec plugin.</li>
<li>If you can’t ban users using a script, at least set up the Send To E-mail plugin to inform you of suspicious activity.</li>
<li>Use the Bruteforce Detect plugin to detect when an IP or IPs are trying to guess the admin’s password. Ban the IPs automatically using Send To Exec.</li>
<li>Do not use admin as the username for your administrator account. Instead, use some else and add the admin username to the list of banned usernames in the Login Failed Username plugin. Ban the IPs that cause the plugin to react.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Custom hooks</h4>
See the <a href="https://pvactivitymonitor.com/doc/dev/" rel="nofollow ugc">developer documentation</a> for relevant info on how to create custom hooks.

Plainview Activity Monitor

Real-time monitoring of users, content, functionality, appearance, security, and updates.

Observer vs Plainview Activity Monitor